Airport Reunion
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: In "Grounded", Tony's waiting for Ziva instead of his father at the airport.


**I don't own NCIS and never will. No copyright infringement intended.**

* * *

><p>After, Tony's heart started pounding and it wasn't because of the terrorist he had just taken down. He hadn't seen Ziva face to face in over a year – their online chats technically didn't count since they hadn't met in person since the day he reluctantly left her at an airport. Leaving her had been one of the hardest things he had ever done.<p>

"You look nervous," a smiling Ellie observed of her co-worker.

"Shut up," he shot back.

"You really love her, huh?" She secretly thought it was adorable that he was this freaked out about seeing Ziva again (something she'd definitely never tell him out loud).

Tony opened his mouth to respond but quickly closed it when Ziva stepped into his line of sight. Her face lit up when she saw him and proceeded to bolt to his side. The two got swept up in the moment and held onto each other with every ounce of energy they had. "I missed you," Ziva murmured.

"I missed you too, Ziva." God, now Tony didn't even know why he had been nervous in the first place.

They sprung apart when Jake cleared his throat. "Sorry, didn't want to interrupt but you two look pretty lost in yourselves." His amused grin gave away the fact that he honestly didn't mind but he'd never admit he thought they seemed cute from two minutes of interaction with each other.

Tony laughed. "Ziva David, meet Ellie Bishop and her husband, Jake Malloy."

Ziva beamed at them and then her eyes flickered over to the body that was now being covered up. "What happened here?"

"Terrorist but we took care of it. Actually, Tony was the one who killed him." Ellie liked Ziva already and could see why everyone on the team missed her so much. Her irrational fears about only being a Ziva replacement rose up again but she pushed them away. She was not going to worry about this now, especially after her talk with Gibbs a few weeks earlier.

"Oh. Of course you'd get in a mess like this when picking me up. That's the way our luck always runs. Well, it's nice to meet you both. Tony's told me a lot about you, Bishop." Ziva shook Ellie and Jake's hand and squeezed Tony's hand.

"Good things I hope," she joked.

Ziva laughed. "You know what he's like," she replied fondly. The entire ride she worried she was making a mistake coming back but right now she had no regrets. She knew for sure she made the right choice now.

"I haven't even known him for longer than a few hours and I know what you mean." Jake laughed at the look of mock outrage on Tony's face. The agent seemed happier now that Ziva had shown up and was so obviously in love that he wasn't sure how to proceed from here.

Ellie suddenly checked her phone to see what time it was. "Hopefully our flight is going to be taking off soon so I'll see you in a few days, Tony. Great meeting you, Ziva, and I hope you visit again soon when I'm in town," she told her.

The four of them said goodbye and then went their separate ways. "Time to get you back to my place so we can have a celebration of our own," Tony said as soon as they got into the car.

Ziva winked. "I'm looking forward to it."

As soon as they closed the door to his apartment, she took off his coat and started kissing him. "I love you," he murmured against her mouth.

"Love you too." God, sex once with this man left her wanting more and she intended to make the most of their time together.

Tony and Ziva definitely made up for all the time lost that night – several times in fact. The next morning, they woke up and decided to just lie in bed for a while. "Are we going to head over to Gibbs' house later or just stay by ourselves and order out?"

She kissed his arm. "I miss the others and I would like to spend time with them. We can have the whole weekend to ourselves to do whatever we please."

Tony was definitely a huge fan of that plan. "Sounds right up my alley." He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "You look beautiful, Ziva."

"Thanks. And you're coming to spend New Year's with me?" She just needed to confirm so she didn't get her hopes up for something that would never happen.

"Wouldn't miss it." He wanted to marry this woman so badly but she wasn't ready to come home for good yet. Tony would respect her wishes even though it was killing him to do so.

"Good." She snuggled up closer to him and sighed. "Maybe we should watch the parade?"

"Great idea!" He reached over for the remote and turned the TV on. It took him a few minutes to find the right channel because Ziva kept distracting him (something Tony honestly didn't mind).

After that was over, the two of them showered together and headed over to Gibbs' house. Gibbs wrapped her up in a hug and kissed her forehead. "It's good to see you, Ziver."

"You too." She followed him into the kitchen to check on the turkey and the two held a conversation for half an hour while Tony and McGee fought over what to watch on TV.

After a fulfilling, big dinner, Tony and Ziva reluctantly said goodbye to their co-workers and returned to his apartment. She sat down on his lap and sighed. "I am so happy you asked me to come back. And it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be."

"Seeing you on the laptop is nothing in comparison to seeing you in person again," Tony murmured right before yawning.

Tony and Ziva were thankful for each other and always would be. To not be in each other's lives was unfathomable. And they would eventually end up in the same place at the same time to get the chance they so desperately wanted.


End file.
